Summertime Updates

I've had a lot of things going on recently.

Blogging hasn't been one of them.

Obviously.

So far in the last couple of months, we've flown once. We've seen lots of people, and we've made a few dozen library trips. I've also started working on a new book project.

Background: we tend to talk about rockets a lot in my family.

Translation: we aren't rabid aeronautics enthusiasts, but we do watch every SpaceX launch, most of them live. We've also watched that Top Gear episode where some guys try to turn a car into a rocket...and it crashes. We talk about that particular rocket almost every bedtime. The toddler's script goes approximately thus: "Today was a good day. :deep sigh: Sometimes rockets crash."

As a result, I'm now working on a book about a rocket that goes to Mars (with a space-age twist on the nursery rhyme 'The House that Jack Built'). If all goes well, I'll have all of the artwork done in another month and be able to assemble the book thereafter.

Technically, when I set up this blog back in March, I meant to start a series of posts about art projects for toddlers. I've still got some ideas for that series, but I'm lucky to get an hour or two in the evenings right now. So, my big dilemma is deciding whether to think about more random kid things or to work on another picture for my new book.

The book tends to win.

Still, I did read a couple of books about preschool projects recently : Playful Learning: An Alternate Approach to Preschool by Anne Engelhardt and Cheryl Sullivan, and Get Ready, Set, Grow! A Preplanned Calendar of Preschool Activities by Eileen Morris and Stephanie Pereau Crilly.

One was recommended to me, while the other was a library find. They both have a variety of really fun ideas which I'm planning to try out soon. I'll let you know how that goes.

Meanwhile, I'm off to work on another picture!